January 26, 200422 yr Mariotti joins WMVP Monday January 24, 2004 BY JAY MARIOTTI SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST BY CHRIS DE LUCA Staff Reporter In a shakeup WMVP-AM (1000) has been plotting for years, a second local sports-radio talk show -- hosted by Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist Jay Mariotti -- will be added to the Chicago ESPN Radio weekday lineup Monday. WMVP has been looking to add a second local show in its battle against WSCR-AM (670). The show hosted by Mariotti will knock Tony Kornheiser's national show off the air in Chicago, while WMVP will retain Jim Rome's national show. Mariotti said an agreement has been reached in principle, though a contract has not been signed. Mariotti is scheduled to meet with station management today. Mariotti -- already a regular on ''Around the Horn,'' a daily sports talk show on ESPN television -- is expected to be joined on the show by a co-host or co-hosts, a detail that is still being discussed. The show will air from 9-11 a.m weekdays. The Mariotti show will join the ''Mac, Jurko & Harry Show'' already running on WMVP and hosted by Dan McNeil, John Jurkovic and Harry Teinowitz. Since ESPN bought WMVP four years ago, it has been searching for a second local show. The latest venture will be a direct shot by WMVP in its battle with WSCR. In the Arbitron Fall 2003 ratings book released this month, WSCR-AM still is tops in the market, but WMVP-AM is gaining ground. Among men 25-54 -- the demographic advertisers covet most -- WMVP had a 3.2 audience share in afternoon drive (3-7 p.m.) compared to a 2.8 for "The Score.'' A year ago, in the fall 2002 book, WSCR had a 2.9-to-2.1 edge. It's the first win ever for WMVP in that category. Contributing: John Jackson So now it's not even bad enough this tool bashes the Sox in his daily garbage column, but now he'll get 2 hours to do it on the Sox flagship station no less. Besides, I thought Kornheiser was funny. Tragic. Simply tragic.
January 26, 200422 yr Dammit! I hate the Score's morning show, and I won't listen. Listening to Mike Murphy's voice is like listening to someone trying to shove a hot cactus up their ass while they're getting their head fried in a skillet. I used to listen to Tony Kornheiser for an hour or so until Boers and Bernsie came on the air on the Score. Now, I will just tune to Sporting News radio or just play a CD. ESPN 1000 really botched this up big-time. Weren't they trying to GAIN ratings? Well, they will LOSE twice as much now, if not more. No one wants to hear Jay in the morning. Or the evening. Or the afternoon. Or anytime. ESPN just lost one of their "target audience" members by making that stupid move. Reading Jay Moronatti lowers your IQ. Listening to him might cause you to become a savant. Just say NO. Hey ESPN, overthinking things too much will kill you - and it will.
January 26, 200422 yr It's supposed to be Bartolo Colon, I think. I wanted the avatar where Bartolo eats one of his teammates in a hunger binge, but I couldn't find it.
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